EDIT: also listening to my HE-500 with the Norse cable now, i'm very impressed, for the first time i heard a decent change in sound vs. the stock silver cable. overall, the sound is very smooth, with no edginess, and there seems to be alot of depth and transparency in the midrange. the treble is even better than before, vocals seem even better presented and the sound is more refined now. with the stock i felt like something was holding the headphones back a bit, like some small veil somewhere in the sound.

also with the stock, i felt like the bass was slightly further back from the mids/highs, now the bass seems more coherent and more in line with the rest of the sound. impact/quantity is about the same, it just doesn't feel as far back as before, which made the sound rather washed out originally. overall, the cable added slight but noticeable improvements without affecting the overall sound.

Interesting observation Dubstep Girl. Which kind of Skuld cable did you get?

Frank. If you ever get a chance. Try the AKG 702 65th Anniversary Edition.

Any comment on these vs the Hifimans is welcomed ;)

The 701s were my last dynamic headphone before I took the plunge and went for the HE-4. The 4s brought pretty much everything I found the 701s to be lacking (bass, bass & bass + harshness) and, bass aside, their sound signature is not too far.

I recently bought the SoundMAGIC HP100 to replace my Mad Dogs (as my go-to closed headphones). Their sound signature is reminiscent of that of the 701s (well, the DT-800 is closer I think) but adds bass punch and tame that harshness.

I can't help but feel these have a "one note" bass that clearly fall short of the planar... I'm keeping the MDs, no doubts ^^

Frank. If you ever get a chance. Try the AKG 702 65th Anniversary Edition.

Any comment on these vs the Hifimans is welcomed

The 702 has a larger soundstage but it is a little bass shy which makes the highs stick out even more. The he500 has plenty of bass to even out the spectrum and allow a more even listening experience. The extra mid bass adds a nice touch of warmth that the 701 are lacking in.

You guys (and gals) are killing my wallet. I've been wanting to demo the -500s for a while, and the "deal of the day" price was enough to push me over the fence. I'm excited to try these versus the HE-400s on a Lyr and Soloist SL. The best pairing of amp and can will be my HP for a good long while...

You guys (and gals) are killing my wallet. I've been wanting to demo the -500s for a while, and the "deal of the day" price was enough to push me over the fence. I'm excited to try these versus the HE-400s on a Lyr and Soloist SL. The best pairing of amp and can will be my HP for a good long while...

Start drafting a sale ad for the 400s.

I'm using preproman's recabled 500s with the Norse cable and I am very pleased with their performance. I immediately noticed how much more clear and responsive they are to their supplied cable. Makes me very anxious to hear preproman's recabled 6s with the Reign.Edited by Happy Camper - 3/11/13 at 1:00pm

I'm using preproman's recabled 500s with the Norse cable and I am very pleased with their performance. I immediately noticed how much more clear and responsive they are to their supplied cable. Makes me very anxious to hear preproman's recabled 6s with the Reign.

We'll see, Happy. I wouldn't be surprised if the -500s beat out the -400s, but we'll have to see. My listening tends towards rock, bluegrass, and jazz. Those are all pretty decent on my -400s, but I think the -500s will also handle those genres well. One interesting variable is that I am running a DSPeaker in this setup. I could use its digital tone controls to tame the -400s high end response just a dB or two, I wonder if that will matter in the final analysis...